A mix of plowed upland prairie and Panther Creek woodlands, the site is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Originally part of the territory controlled by the Illinois Confederacy of Native Americans, the Panther Creek basin was largely settled by the 1850s.

Due to the passage of the federal Clean Air Act, the use of Illinois coal for electrical power purposes became less economically attractive to Commonwealth Edison in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources acquired "Site M" in June 1993, and the acquisition became the largest portion of what was renamed the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (JEPC) in 2001.

Some primary target species for which JEPC open space are managed are mourning doves, pheasants, quail, snipe, woodcock, and rabbit.